Getting Started/Build/Methods

These pages are currently being completely re-written to reflect the new KDE infrastructure and may not be in a consistent state. Information and commands on some page may no longer be valid and should be used with care.

Deciding How To Build KDE Software

There are several possible ways to build and install KDE software and the method you choose depends on what you want to do with the software once it is built.

You may want to:

Develop a standalone application using the KDE Development Platform

Develop one of the KDE Applications

Develop the KDE Workspace or the KDE Platform

Test the latest KDE Software or an earlier stable version

In particular, for application development you may only need to use the KDE Development Platform stable packages from your distribution rather than building it all yourself.

The tables below provide some guidance in making this decision.

TODO: Complete these options.

Usage

Method

Developing an application outside of the KDE development infrastructure using the stable KDE Development Platform.

Packaged Stable Release

Developing an application outside of the KDE development infrastructure using features from the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Snapshot Build

Unstable Source Build

Developing an application in the KDE SC using the stable KDE Development Platform.

Stable Source Build

Developing an application in the KDE SC using features in the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Unstable Source Build

Developing the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Unstable Source Build

Method

Description

Stable Release Packages

Install a stable release of the KDE Development Platform from packages using your distributions standard software installer.

Unstable Packages

Install an unstable version of the KDE Development Platform using your distributions standard software installer. Some distributions provide unstable packages for Nightly Snapshots, Weekly Snapshots, or unstable development releases.

Snapshot Build

Build a snapshot of the source code as at a given time or release from a tarball download. These may be stable or unstable releases or nightly snapshots

Stable Source Build

Build a version of the source code for an official release directly from the source repository.

Unstable Source Build

Build the current unstable development code directly from the source repository.